Turning Photos into Watercolor Prints!

Everyone loves to use photos to decorate their home, myself included. Last week when I found out about the new waterlogue app that transforms your photos into watercolor prints, I had to give it a try.  Want to know what is even more fun than actually painting? Letting an app do it for you! ;)

If you hang out on Instagram, I shared a photo of the Old Well at UNC-Chapel Hill that was the first photo I changed using the app. I am amazed at how pretty and realistic the results are! The app sketches the photo, applies a filter, and then "paints" it into a charming rendition that looks both authentic and unique.

The app allows you to save the watercolor image as a high quality image, and I was curious to see how they looked printed. I used white cardstock to print them since I had it on hand. I converted two of our favorite travel photos, printed at home, and popped them into my favorite Z Gallerie frames. I love how well they turned out...instant art! :)

How unique this would be as a housewarming, birthday, thank you gift...the possibilities are endless! Here are a few other prints that I think turned out well:
 

If you want a little DIY artwork for your home, check out the waterlogue app (sells for $2.99). I would love to hear your thoughts if you've tried it!

Pink and Grey Chevron Baby Shower!

When our friends Aubrie and Terence found out they were having a sweet baby girl, visions of a girly and pink baby shower started dancing in my head. A couple of weeks ago, two girlfriends and I teamed up to throw a celebration filled with all things pink! It was such a lovely time showering the mommy-to-be and her baby girl with lots of love (and monograms!)

 The mommy-to-be with the three hostesses

The theme included grey chevron with soft pink and silver.

The dessert table held the monogrammed cake, matching cupcakes, Hershey's chocolate, and the mommy-to-be's favorite sugar cookies.

The pink swag was made with a simple plastic tablecloth and pink pin. The Well Wishes Tree had little notecards for guests to write notes and advice to the parents-to-be.

 
This picture doesn't do this food table justice! My co-hostesses did such a phenomenal job preparing the delicious, homemade food!

The menu included chicken salad sandwiches, ham & cheese poppy-seed sandwiches, cheeseball with crackers, fresh veggies & dip, fruit salsa and cinnamon pita chips and fruit parfait. All was amazingly delicious and homemade by my two co-hostesses! :)

The diaper cake had four layers of  92 total diapers and a bottle of white wine in the middle for the parents to celebrate their girl after she arrives :)

 
The beautiful mommy-to-be!

 
The homemade punch included an ice ring of fresh fruit. I couldn't get enough of it, so delicious!

One of the games was "Guess the Baby Food" which turned out pretty hilarious! Everyone tasted each jar (all dyed green with food coloring) and guessed the flavor of baby food. The mommy-to-be ended up winning with the most correct answers! Must be a good sign :)

The mommy-to-be and baby Haven were showered with lots of love and gifts! There was no shortage of pink, lace, and ruffles :)

What made the day so wonderful was lots of friends and family all gathered to celebrate the occasion :)

Can't wait to meet the sweet baby girl when she arrives! :)

Silhouette Themed Gender Reveal!

I've always loved the saying "there's friends and there's friends you haven't met yet." Then there are some people you meet and instantly click with. This was the case with our dear friends Terence and Aubrie when we met them four years ago. Their friendship is so special to us, and we were ecstatic when we found out they are expecting baby number two! Naturally I asked if I could help throw their gender reveal party.

So, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, the couple's family and closest friends gathered in anticipation of whether Baby Number Two would be pink or blue :)

The gender reveal featured a yellow and white silhouette theme. 

The dessert table included rice krispie treats with yellow drizzle, mini cupcakes with yellow sprinkles and pizzelles (the mommy-to-be's specialty!). The buttercream cake took center stage and was used for the big reveal of pink or blue.

We planned to have yellow and white petit fours but those plans fell through so we substituted with vanilla wafers. The food labels had already been written, so we just called them fancy vanilla wafers ;)

Beside the dessert table was a large chalkboard with possible boy and girl names for guests to guess the gender and name :)

Time for the big reveal...IT'S A GIRL!

Love this shot of some guests' reactions!

 After the gender reveal, Terence and Aubrie announced they will be naming their sweet baby girl Haven Ann :)

 Congratulations Terence & Aubrie on your baby girl! Cannot wait until she arrives! :)

The beautiful images are by Kimberly Naranjo Photography, the semi-blurry ones from my iPhone :)